Three regional journalism jobs have been created as part of a publisher’s bid to increase newsroom diversity.

Reach plc has announced the launch of an initiative which will see it take on trainees at its Essex Live, Kent Live and MyLondon websites and pay for them to train while in full-time employment.

The company says the move is designed to improve minority ethnic and social class representation in its newsrooms and will be introduced in other regions if successful.

Under the scheme Reach will partner with NCTJ-accredited journalism course providers to take on and support students from a diverse range of backgrounds to achieve their formal journalism training.

Luke Jacobs, pictured, Reach’s new audiences editor for London and the South East, said: “Here at Reach in the South East, we’ve had a strategy in place to rapidly improve diversity and inclusion in our content, improving our recruitment practices and becoming an inclusive and secure environment for staff from all backgrounds.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests has shown the desperate need to widen perspectives in our newsrooms and in our coverage.

“Our journalists are passionate about the areas they cover, but we can only be truly representative if we best reflect them at all levels, including entry.”

David Bartlett, the company’s audience and content director for London and South East, added: “I’m delighted we are launching Reach Boost, as we pride ourselves at being one of the best regions for developing talent.

“However, we also believe that we have much to learn from future generations of new journalists.

“This scheme will see us effectively ringfence three trainee journalist roles in London, Kent and Essex, for people who would not normally have the opportunity to enter this industry.

“This will be the first time we will have committed to training this number of journalists at the same time.”